Light olefins, such as ethylene and propylene, are important commercial precursors for a number of products. Most notably the manufacture of polyethylene and propylene, but also as contributing precursors for products such as cumene.
The production of light olefins is generally through cracking of petroleum streams, such as catalytic or steam cracking of a naphtha stream. Light olefins can also be generated by other hydrocarbon processes. The production of light olefins produces by-products from the processes, and the light olefins product streams need to be of a high purity for producing high quality plastic products.
The processing of hydrocarbons generally goes through several stages. The processing steps can be expensive, so reducing cost to improve the economics is important for the production of these products. There is a continuous need for searching for new equipment designs and process to lower the cost of production.